Proving and protecting your identity

Get a birth certificate

Your New Zealand birth certificate can be used as official ID for most things. It costs $33 to get a standard one sent to you, $35 for a decorative one or $55 for a pack with a standard and a decorative birth certificate.

Get a marriage certificate

Your New Zealand marriage or civil union certificate is an official record of your marriage. It costs $33 to get one sent to you.

Get a death certificate

You might need a death certificate if you're administering someone's estate or applying for a funeral grant from Work and Income or ACC.

Access to your birth, marriage and name change records

Birth, death, marriage, civil union and name change records are a public register — anyone can generally request copies of someone's information. You can see who's accessed your records since 2009 or block access to them if your safety is at risk.

• Get a non-disclosure direction

Translating official documents

Get an official translation so you can use a New Zealand government document, like a birth certificate, overseas.

Use your NZ documents overseas

When you need to use a New Zealand document in another country, you might be asked to get the document apostilled or authenticated. Some countries call this legalisation.

• Authentication Unit document requirements
• Verify an apostille

What is RealMe?

RealMe is the secure way to prove who you are online. You can use it in two ways: to prove who you are when you’re online, and to log into lots of NZ government sites and services.